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Jane Palmer, a self-described "serial entrepreneur" for 20 years, has run into this problem head on. After her previ- ous business, a dye house specializing in plant-based products attained success but struggled in areas related to supply, Palmer developed her own bio-based pigment that could scale, and "make an impact in the industry," said Palmer in a presentation during the virtual Catalyst Transformers denim event. Her new venture, Nature Coatings, Inc., in Los Angeles, transforms wood waste, sourced from sustainable FSC certified for- ests, into high performance black pigment that Palmer says is a direct replacement for petroleum carbon black commonly used in a wide variety of applications. Palmer and other textile entrepreneurs are increasingly seizing on scale-ability as a key attribute in ushering in a new era of environmentally responsible textiles. Figuring out how to ramp production to introduce quality, affordable eco products to a wider audience is an important next step for small companies on the cusp of larger success. Circularity Brings Positive Change Re:newcell, out of Sweden, has launched a technology that looks to fill a link in the recycling chain of cotton and viscose with satisfactory quality on a large enough scale. The company's process creates a branded product, Circulose pulp that can be turned into fiber and fed into existing textile production, essentially creating a closed loop system. "The industry needs technology that can scale up," stated Jenny Fredicsdotter, of re:newcell, in a virtual presentation to the denim community this summer. "Our pro- cess is circular, not linear, and is currently up and running at our Kristinehamn plant." The re:newcell process is similar to recycling paper. Incoming waste fabrics are broken down using water; color is stripped from these materials using eco- friendly bleach. After synthetic fibers are removed from the mix, a slurry-like mixture is dried and excess water is extracted. What remains is a Circulose sheet. This sheet is then made into viscose fiber that gets combined with cotton and woven into a new fabric. The company's plant has capacity to recycle 30 million garments annually, according to Fredicsdotter, who adds that a second plant is currently being built. Company execs realize that its current capacity of approximately 7000 tons of biodegradable Circulose pulp per year "is a drop in the ocean of the textile industry production of millions of tons of dissolving pulp every year." However, the technology is designed for volume, and "our method makes better fibers at scale," concluded Fredicsdotter. Indeed, in July re:newcell formed a col- laboration with Levi's. The organic cotton/ Circulose jeans will be available as part of the Levi's Wellthread line in the 502 for men and High Loose style for women. This partnership comes on heels of a re:new- cell partnership with H&M announced earlier in 2020. H&M's Spring/Summer Conscious Exclusive collection features a jacquard weave day dress made of 50 percent Circulose recycled from used cotton jeans, and 50 percent FSC-certified wood; and was the first-of-a-kind material available at retail for consumers. Nature Coatings, founded by Palmer in 2017, also advocates a closed loop circular system for manufacturing that accommo- dates scale. "We have refined the pigment manufacturing process and our new facility can supply substantial volume with high quality color," said Palmer, who explained that she did a thousand formulations to get multiple formulas that could work across different applications. With regulatory THE CHALLENGE OF VOLUME ECO ENTREPRENEURS' NEXT STEPS IN LEVELING UP PRODUCTION CAPACITY BY EMILY WALZER Innovation is rampant within the sustainability sector as new ideas for climate positive product and responsible production processes continue to define today's textile industry. Now the challenge becomes the ability to bring these novel ideas to scale. It's one thing to develop a promising green textile solution; the hitch is creating volume. sportstylemag.com • sportstyle November 2020 • 41

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